Search watoday:

Search in:

Rape victim's ordeal in her own words

Dean Nelson

Activists demand change for the treatment of women. In the victim, Jyoti Singh's "dying declaration" she called her rapists "animal-like people". Photo: AP

The 23-year-old student whose gang rape on a Delhi bus provoked outrage across India named her killers and revealed the terrible details of their savage attack in a ''dying declaration'' seen by London's Daily Telegraph.

Jyoti Singh, a physiotherapy student, was attacked by six men on December 16 after she boarded a bus with a friend after a trip to a cinema.

She was beaten so badly 95 per cent of her intestines had to be removed in a series of operations. She died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.

Five men appeared in court earlier this week charged with her kidnap, gang rape and murder. A sixth defendant, who is believed to be 17, will be tried in a juvenile court.

Advertisement

They will be accused by the victim from beyond the grave in a ''dying declaration'' made to a magistrate as she fought to survive her injuries in Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, on December 21, eight days before she died.

''All of them should be hung to death so that these criminals do not do any such acts to any other girls, which is inhuman. They are animal-like people. They should be burned alive,'' she replied when asked how she would like her attackers to be punished.

Ms Singh said she and her friend, Awindra Pandey, boarded a white chartered bus.

''The conductor closed the doors of the bus. He closed the lights of the bus and came towards my friend and started abusing and beating him,'' she said. ''They held his hands and held me and took me to the back of the bus. They tore my clothes and raped me in turns. They hit me with an iron rod and bit me on my entire body with their teeth …

''They took all belongings, my mobile phone, purse, credit card, debit card, watches, etc. Six people raped me in turns for nearly one hour in a moving bus.''

She and her friend had put up a fierce fight, she said, but their screams to passers-by went unheard. For half of her ordeal she was unconscious, she said, but each time she awoke she was attacked again.

(*Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by calling Lifeline 131 114, Mensline 1300 789 978, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800.)